US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO305

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000305 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, AF/S, AF/RSA 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, ELAB, SMIG, ASEC, PREF, MZ, KFLD, Trafficking in Persons 
SUBJECT: 2005 MOZAMBIQUE ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) 
 
REPORT 
REF: 04 STATE 273089 
 
1. Mozambique is a source country for women and girls 
trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. South 
Africa is the principal receiving country for trafficked 
Mozambicans. The International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) estimates that 1,000 Mozambican women are trafficked 
every year. IOM based its estimate of trafficked women on 
field research carried out in Mozambique and South Africa 
during 2003; post considers this information to be generally 
reliable. The GRM has not conducted any surveys to measure 
the extent of trafficking. Trafficked women are recruited, 
generally from the Maputo area, with promises of lucrative 
jobs in South Africa; evidence suggests that recruiters are 
usually known to the victim on some level. Victims are then 
sold to brothels, or as concubines to mine workers, generally 
in the Johannesburg area and sometimes in the Durban area. 
Trafficking of young women from the Nampula area to South 
Africa has also been reported. Traffickers are principally 
Mozambican or South African citizens, but involvement of 
Russian, Chinese, and Nigerian syndicates has also been 
reported. Prostitution is not illegal in Mozambique, nor are 
the activities of pimps or brothels -- a situation that makes 
it difficult to raise the public profile of trafficking for 
purposes of sexual exploitation. Post is not aware of any 
reports that men or boys are trafficked for the purpose of 
sexual exploitation. 
 
2. The Government of Mozambique does not fully comply with 
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it has expressed willingness to do so. Incoming 
President Armando Guebuza has specifically mentioned the 
problem of trafficking in women and children several times in 
his public discourse, and high-ranking officials in key 
government ministries remain interested in further addressing 
the issue. Despite public interest, Mozambique has made 
limited progress on trafficking issues in the past year due 
to lack of resources and training. No traffickers have been 
arrested or formally investigated in the past year. Border 
controls remain highly inadequate, and many policemen and 
border control agents are suspected to accept regular bribes 
from both traffickers and smugglers of persons. Neither the 
criminal investigative police in the Ministry of Interior nor 
the anti-corruption units of the Attorney General's office 
have received meaningful training on trafficking. The 
government participates in public education campaigns 
targeted to potential victims of trafficking, but these 
efforts are limited in scope. The government should address 
all of these issues in the near future, and also should 
strengthen and clarify laws in order to expressly prohibit 
trafficking of women and children. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
3. The GRM acknowledges that trafficking in persons is a 
problem, and has established an anti-trafficking inter-agency 
working group, comprised principally of the Ministries of 
Interior, Women and Social Action, Justice, and Health. The 
government has not organized any anti-trafficking public 
education campaigns on trafficking prevention, due to lack of 
resources. The Ministry of Interior the Ministry of Women 
and Social Action, have, however, participated actively in 
NGO- and international organization-run education campaigns 
for women in vulnerable communities; these activities address 
trafficking specifically as part of the training program. 
The government has taken other steps in the past year to help 
women in potentially vulnerable circumstances, such as 
approval of a new Family Law, signed in September 2004, which 
strengthens and clarifies the rights of women vis-a-vis their 
husbands or common law partners. The government also 
provides support to women in economically vulnerable 
situations through micro-finance initiatives and women's 
literacy programs, each of which received increased 
government funding in 2004. 
 
4. While Mozambique has made strides in fulfilling its 
commitment to women's rights and economic progress, its 
capacity to adequately patrol its lengthy borders and 
coastline remains woefully inadequate, and irregularities 
among border control agents are common. According to 
government records, trafficking is rarely if ever reported to 
police or border authorities. In 2004, the Ministry of 
Interior's Department for Women and Children established a 
new database to track a variety of crimes against women and 
children -- a groundbreaking step in Mozambique. Significant 
numbers of crimes were registered in several categories -- 
including 53 kidnappings of children and 453 "disappeared" 
children in 2004 -- but no official cases of trafficking were 
reported. 
 
5. The Mozambican government has taken strides to address its 
weak border control and knowledge of trafficking by upgrading 
its links with its neighbors, and with international 
organizations. In 2004, the Department of Migration signed 
an agreement with its counterpart in South Africa to share 
information and facilities; information on trafficking in 
persons was specified within the agreement. Also, in January 
2005 the government formally approved the IOM's application 
to re-establish an office in Mozambique this year. In recent 
years, the IOM has been the leading organization in the 
investigation of trafficking patterns in Mozambique, but has 
had to operate out of its Pretoria office. Despite these 
steps forward, the Mozambican government does not yet have 
any national plan of action to address prevention of 
trafficking in persons, nor does it have a person designated 
specifically to develop anti-trafficking programs. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution 
----------------------------- 
6. Mozambican law does not specifically prohibit trafficking 
in persons. In theory, traffickers could be prosecuted using 
laws on sexual assault, rape, abduction, and child abuse, but 
no such cases have been brought. Mozambique has no 
experience with extradition of traffickers apprehended in 
South Africa. There is no evidence that high-ranking 
government officials are involved with trafficking in any 
way. The likelihood of bribe taking by border control 
officials, combined with the Department of Interior's lack of 
statistics on trafficking, suggests that trafficking is 
tolerated at lower levels of government. The criminal 
investigative police and the anti-corruption unit of the 
Attorney General's office have very limited knowledge of 
trafficking in persons, and the police are not undertaking 
any investigations into trafficking at this time. Government 
priorities have been largely conditioned by public opinion 
and the media -- while local media reports on trafficking in 
persons have been nearly non-existent, media reports of organ 
theft were frequent in 2004. In response, the government 
launched an investigation into organ crimes in the Nampula 
area in March 2004. In June 2004, the GRM cleared two 
foreign citizens who had been detained on organ theft-related 
charges in late 2003. No arrests have been made and the 
investigation into the issue is ongoing. The government has 
also increased its efforts to investigate and prosecute 
smuggling in persons, making several arrests of South Asian 
migrants in late 2004, both at the land borders and at major 
airports. The government made tangible progress in 
addressing smuggling of persons in 2004. 
 
7. In December 2002, the government ratified the Protocol to 
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. 
Mozambique previously ratified ILO Convention 182, 
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. (Editor's Note 05/08/25 -- In fact, this Convention was ratified in June 2003.? End Note.) It has also 
ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the 
Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children and the 
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination 
Against Women. On forced labor, Mozambique has ratified ILO 
Convention 105 but has not ratified Convention 29 (Editor's note 05/08/25 -- In fact Mozambique ratifed both 182 and 29 in 2003.? End Note). 
 
Protection 
---------- 
8. The government is making an attempt to provide basic 
protection for victims of trafficking, but suffers from 
limited resources. The Ministry of Women and Social Action 
has provided six major hospitals with counselors to help 
women and children who are victims of violence. These 
counselors have received basic training in trafficking and 
reintegration; counselors in the Maputo Central Hospital 
report that they have used their training to help trafficking 
victims in the past year. Also, in 2004 the Ministry of 
Interior has established (but lightly funded) women's 
shelters at police stations in Maputo and Beira. It has also 
provided training in women's and children's protection -- 
including training in trafficking in persons -- to police 
officers serving in Maputo, Beira, and Nampula. The 
government does not provide financial support to foreign or 
domestic NGOs for services to victims. The rights of victims 
are broadly respected; victims are not detained, jailed, or 
fined. By law, the government is authorized to provide 
short-term assistance to victims of trafficking, but it 
reports that few if any women have registered with the police 
as victims. The government does not provide long-term 
financial assistance, shelter, or employment skills training. 
There is no evidence that the government encourages victims 
to assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking. 
 
9. Embassy contact point on TIP is James Potts, 
Political-Economic Officer. Tel: 258-1-492-797, Fax: 
258-1-490-448, Mobile 258-82-305-899. Principal FSO drafter 
spent 25 hours researching and drafting this cable, FSNs 
spent 4 hours, and FSO editors/clearers spent 3 hours, for a 
total of 32 hours. 
LALIME